Comments on: More Space for Parking Than Offices at Boston-Area TOD

By: jass

jass — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:48:20 +0000

Mark Chase, the MBTA charges $5.75 to park at riverside. Who said it was free? That’s $115 a month. Plus the subway fare.

By: Mark Chase

Mark Chase — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:09:32 +0000

The fatal flaw here is not charging for parking. I’m sure their demand estimates are based on free parking or very cheap parking. What would the demand be for $100/ month parking? Much less than they are building. Free parking next to a transit station is a crime!

By: poncho

poncho — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 05:27:29 +0000

bob, to answer that question, i think we readers at streetsblog all need to ask ourselves how we came to give up or outright reject the autopia lifestyle. were we pushed or pulled away from it? where have we lived and where do we live that might influence our opinion? is it generational?

By: Bob Davis

Bob Davis — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 02:16:16 +0000

To answer the comment about parking space vs. office space: Those cars in the parking lot aren’t there for no reason. One can make a parallel between the cars in a parking lot and the horses tied up outside the saloon in a Western movie. They’re waiting for their owners to come out. Many, if not most Americans feel as lost without a car at their disposal and command as a cowboy without a horse. This brings up another point of discussion, when gas goes to $10 a gallon, will people finally give up personal cars, or will it be bonanza time for electric motor and battery makers?

By: jass

jass — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:14:04 +0000

Im disappointed in this report.

Riverside is the terminus of the D branch of the green line. It is very outside of Boston and is right by the major highway.

According to MBTA.com, the station has almost 1,000 spots, but only 10% are available on weekdays. You can’t build ridership at this type of location if people are turned away on some days. Riders will not want to risk the lot being full if they want to make the green line part of their daily commute.

If there’s one place giant parking garages are warranted, it is at the suburban terminus of a mass transit line.

So why the TOD? By adding housing and retail at Riverside you encourage reverse commutes, thus adding people to the empty trains that are returning to riverside to pick up people.

By: W. K. Lis

W. K. Lis — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:18:42 +0000

Has anyone measured the amount of real estate one parking space (and driveway or aisle) take up in comparison to a typical office cubicle? I think the automobile is given much more real estate or asphalt than the worker’s own office cubicle or work space.

By: poncho

poncho — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:23:54 +0000

its because developer organizations always spout blindly and repeatedly that if you have abundant parking whatever you build will be a success and if a project failed it must not have had enough parking.

“oh that retail center with 10 spaces per 1000 sq ft failed, it must not have had enough parking!!!!” (btw 3.3/1000 is standard suburban retail ratio). “oh that store closed in midtown manhattan, see it was because it didnt have any parking.”

the developer world is all about rules of thumb, perpetuating them and treating them as a guarantee for success. then they are outraged when the rules they put all their faith and money into let them down… “if i build 7000 sq ft mcmansions on 2 acre lots with granite counters and a 4 car garage i’m entitled to sell them for $2.5 million each.” we can see now how well that thinking is working.